My American flatmate asked me to spare Wednesday night so that we could do a farewell activity. I arranged to meet Leon at the studio where he hosts his Wednesday night Salsa class. I left EICA, walking towards Plaza Urquinaona with Chloe. Chloe is a Chinese girl who grew up and studied in the USA but married an Irishman and is now pregnant. She and her husband have been in Spain for the last 6 months. She told me all her woes about living here and mentioned that they are going back to Ireland on 30 November. She has found it very hard to assimilate and is looking forward to going back to Ireland. I told Chloe that even my Spanish speaking friends (Mexicans) said that it is very difficult to break in with the locals here. Added to that, the fact that the Catalans do not speak English that well, so they are not readily going to befriend English speakers.
I arrived at the studio to find Leon sitting on a chair waiting for students. Nobody arrived though. So I sat and chatted to Leon and his partner Rosa (Spanish). Leon told me he is now at the point where he feels excited to go back to the USA. He is despondent about how things have worked out here and with the city life. Rosa is from the South of Spain but has moved to Barcelona after a 14 year period of living in San Francisco, USA. Rosa added that she would love to return to the USA as she thinks her country is so inefficient and that people have no ambition. She admitted that she likes the hard working nature and competitiveness of countries such as Germany or America. She is trying to get back to the USA at all costs...
We left the studio intending to go for a drink at a bar in the Gotico area. We found a great place which was about to close so only a quick coffee and then we moved onward to have falafel. Leon and I walked the streets of Gotico looking for a good falafel place. We stumbled upon Diana - one of my teachers at EICA. It was great chatting to her and her friend. I realised that when I am no longer in Spain I am going to miss all the social kissing which one does here. When you meet somebody you know or when you introduce yourself to people you do not know, it is customary to kiss on the cheek. At first I felt it a little awkward and was uncomfortable with it but now I do it without a qualm.
After bidding farewell to Diana and her friend, we made our way to Raval where we spent a few minutes at a house party in an abandoned building, before making our way back to a Falafeleria in the Gotico! It turns out that the falafel in the Gotico was not as good as we thought it would be anyway so perhaps we should just have stayed in Raval. A walking tour of the city just to buy falafel...
I arrived at the studio to find Leon sitting on a chair waiting for students. Nobody arrived though. So I sat and chatted to Leon and his partner Rosa (Spanish). Leon told me he is now at the point where he feels excited to go back to the USA. He is despondent about how things have worked out here and with the city life. Rosa is from the South of Spain but has moved to Barcelona after a 14 year period of living in San Francisco, USA. Rosa added that she would love to return to the USA as she thinks her country is so inefficient and that people have no ambition. She admitted that she likes the hard working nature and competitiveness of countries such as Germany or America. She is trying to get back to the USA at all costs...
We left the studio intending to go for a drink at a bar in the Gotico area. We found a great place which was about to close so only a quick coffee and then we moved onward to have falafel. Leon and I walked the streets of Gotico looking for a good falafel place. We stumbled upon Diana - one of my teachers at EICA. It was great chatting to her and her friend. I realised that when I am no longer in Spain I am going to miss all the social kissing which one does here. When you meet somebody you know or when you introduce yourself to people you do not know, it is customary to kiss on the cheek. At first I felt it a little awkward and was uncomfortable with it but now I do it without a qualm.
After bidding farewell to Diana and her friend, we made our way to Raval where we spent a few minutes at a house party in an abandoned building, before making our way back to a Falafeleria in the Gotico! It turns out that the falafel in the Gotico was not as good as we thought it would be anyway so perhaps we should just have stayed in Raval. A walking tour of the city just to buy falafel...
No comments:
Post a Comment